Canon 351 §2 says: “Cardinals are created by a decree of the Roman Pontiff which is made public in the presence of the college of cardinals. From the moment of the announcement they are bound by the duties and possess the rights defined by law.”

In light of this, I don’t think that they could vote in a conclave if the Pope were to die before the consistory. For the consistory is the official announcement “in the presence of the college of cardinals.”

Vatican protocol DOES NOT accord Cardinals-designate the title “Eminence”.

The “Bolletino della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede” keeps records of audiences,
as you know, and, if you check them, you will see, for instance
that an Archbishop who is a Cardinal-designate is treated as “S.E. Mons.”

So far, the only thing the pope did was to announce an intention, the intention
of performing the act described in canon 351, paragraph 2. “I intend to create…”

*****

I think that you are confusing the situation of a Cardinal-designate who
hasn’t been created in consistory yet with the situation of a Cardinal that
has been created in consistory but who has not received the Red Hat, the Ring
or taken the oath.

A Cardinal-designate becomes a Cardinal when the pope pronounces, in the
presence of the public consistory (the assembly of the “other” Cardinals present
in Rome, because, up to that point, the Cardinals-designate are not part of
that assembly yet), the words decreeing the creation of the new Cardinals.

Now, as you know, new Cardinals do not receive their rings on the same date of
their creation as cardinals. According to present usage, while the red
birretas are given during the consistory itself, and while the oath is also
taken during the consistory, the conferral of the rings usually takes place
during Mass on the next day.

And it used to be the case, in times past (in the times of Pius X, Pius XI),
that the pope wouldn’t make a previous announcement of his intention to hold
a consistory for the creation of new cardinals specifying the names of the
men he wanted to promote to the Sacred College.

Instead, the pope would simply call a consistory, and that could be due to
several reasons (to approve decrees of the Causes of Saints, etc). Then, in
the presence of the Consistory of his Cardinals, and without the presence of
any Cardinal-designate, the pope would read the decree promoting certain men
to the Sacred College.

Thus, in the past, one would become Cardinal without
being present in Rome (think of St. John Fisher), without receiving simultaneously the Red Hat and
without taking the oath simultaneously. But, because his name had already been
published in consistory, his creation as a Cardinal was accomplished, and, to
dispel any doubts, the Popes decreed, and it is a norm of present Church law,
that a cardinal the name of which was published in consistory enjoys all the
rights and duties of the office, including the style of eminence, the right
to wear red and the right to take part in a Conclave, even if, by the time of
the Conclave, he did not have the opportunity of taking the oath before the
Pontiff or of receiving from him the Red Hat.

This norm is still part of Church law, but it became somewhat moot due to the fact
that these days the Cardinals-desigate ARE present at the consistory in which
their creation is published, and they immediately take the oath and receive
the Red Birretta in lieu of the Red Hat.

Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, article 36, requires that
Cardinals must have been published before a consistory, and contains the above
mentioned rule regarding Cardinals who were published before a consistory
but who haven’t received the hat, the ring or taken the oath. So you see that
today’s action is just an announcement of a future event, and that today’s
announcement is of no juridical consequence, given that the law requires the
formal publication before a consistory, even though it does not require the
taking of the oath or the actual delivery of the ring and hat. The above
mentioned article reads:

36. A Cardinal of Holy Roman Church who has been created and published before the College of Cardinals thereby has the right to elect the Pope, in accordance with the norm of No. 33 of the present Constitution, even if he has not yet received the red hat or the ring, or sworn the oath. On the other hand, Cardinals who have been canonically deposed or who with the consent of the Roman Pontiff have renounced the cardinal- ate do not have this right. Moreover, during the period of vacancy the College of Cardinals cannot readmit or rehabilitate them.

I suppose it is too much to hope that Pope Benedict XVI would surprise the world and would decree that for this special occasion, cardinals would wear the red cardinalatial cappa magna in addition to the red cassock. Daydreaming probably to hope for the return of the gallero. Even more wishful thinking that the consistory be held in St. Peter’s Basilica itself ( as it used to be 50-60 tears ago) rather than in the ugly Paul VI audience hall, or outside in St. Peter’s Square a la John Paul II.
I’m alittle disappointed with Pope Benedict XVI that for grand occasions at least…everything still smacks of John Paul II. I would love to see something of a return to Catholic tradition in this consistory, like the elements I mentioned above, or the Pope sitting on a real Papal throne to distribute the red Cardinal hats, and not on that little highback chair which could come from a drawing room/living room/main hall of a manor hours or mansion. Doesn’t look like much. Benedict XVI at Christmastime used a Papal throne which hadn’t been seein since the day’s of John XXIII. Maybe He will make use of it again for this occasion.

Matthew, perhaps what you think of as “a la John Paul II” was actually “a la Piero Marini.” Let us give the new MC of Papal Liturgies a chance, eh? I have read that Pope Benedict XVI prefers to hold liturgies, especially Mass, inside St. Peter’s. He has, in fact, held many liturgies inside St. Peter’s. However, he also is considerate of the large crowds that come and cannot fit inside the basilica.

Yes I think even in cases of where a cardinal has been created ‘in pectore’ he is not able to act out his office until the public announcement (and that even if he has been informed of the pope’s decision). A bit of a funny situation, I would have thought. I often speculate whether the Holy Father has chosen me a lay cardinal, in his heart, and that if so, I might never know.

It is clear that the Holy Father by making the announcement on Wednesday did _not_ intend that to be the official publication. And the reason is simply his introduction.

He mentions that he is abrogating “by one” the rule of 120 Cardinal Electors. The key point there is “by one”. For today there are 104 Cardinals under the age of 80 and thus Cardinal Electors.

He named 18 new Cardinal Electors. Thus giving us 122 Cardinal Electors if he intended the announcement as the official publication.

It should be noted that Cardinal Sodano turns 80 and loses the right to vote on 23 November.

So, if the Holy Father intends to aborgate the rule “by one” as he clearly stated, then the official publication can not occur before 23 November. (And, of course, 24 November is the stated date for the Consistory itself.)

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A bit more food for thought…

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“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?... The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If...if...We didn't love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation.... We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”

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